After the award presentation, a special message from President-elect Barack Obama was shown, during which he congratulated President Bush for his accomplishments with HIV/AIDS and addressed the future of global health. "This epidemic can't be stopped by government alone, and money alone is not the answer either," said President-elect Obama. "All of us must do our part... We as leaders must continue to sound that call and encourage others to see themselves as leaders in this fight -- and we must reaffirm our own commitment to confront and defeat this disease once and for all."

About PEPFAR On July 30, 2008, President George W. Bush signed into law H.R. 5501, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. This legislation responds to the President's call to expand the U.S. Government commitment to this successful program for five additional years, from 2009 through 2013. For more information on the next phase of PEPFAR, please see the Reauthorizing PEPFAR fact sheet. In 2003, President Bush launched the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to combat global HIV/AIDS - the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in history. On May 27, 2003, President Bush signed P.L. 108-25, the United States Leadership Against Global HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003, the legislative authorization for the Emergency Plan. On July 2, 2003, President Bush nominated Randall L. Tobias as the inaugural U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator to lead implementation of the Emergency Plan, and after Senate confirmation, Ambassador Tobias was sworn in on October 6, 2003. On August 11, 2006, Ambassador Mark R. Dybul was sworn in as the current U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.